When my Jays finally got it done 20 years ago, there were 50 things I didn't realise over the years about the '92 World Series
50) The Atlanta Braves were making their second straight attempt to win their first World Series since moving to Altanta. Before that, they had won the World Series as the Milwaukee Braves as recently as 1957, and as the Boston Braves as recently as 1914. They had even won a Championship 100 years before 1992, when, as the Boston Beaneaters (1st place in the NL) beat the Cleveland Spiders (2nd in the NL) in a six game series 5 wins, 0 losses and 1 tie. They had also just reached the World Series in 1991 and lost the Minnesota Twins in 7 games, a World Series that many call the finest ever!
49) Meanwhile, the Jays had no such postseason luck, squadering a 3-1 lead in the 1985 ALCS, then losing in 5 games against Oakland in 1989 and again 5 games to Minnesota in 1991
48) Game 1 featured the first ever 20 (Jack Morris) game winner vs 20 game winner (Tom Glavine) since Tom Seaver and Mike Cuellar in game 4 of the 1969 World Series.
47) Glavine's ERA in the 1992 NLCS: 12.27 in 7.1 IP
46) Glavine had won only one game since beating the other Canadian team (Montreal Expos) on August 19
45) Morris, by taking the hill in game 1, joined Joe Bush, Paul Derringer, and Grant Jackson as one of only four pitchers (at that point) to pitch in a World Series with three different teams.
44) Combined lifetime wins by Morris and Glavine: 559
43) Combined lifetime postseason wins by Morris and Glavine: 21
42) Morris was trying to become the first pitcher to win a World Series game with three different teams
41) The first hit by a Blue Jay was Dave Winfield, which equalled hit total number of hits in the entire 1981 World Series. Winfield went 1-22 in '81
40) Joe Carter hit the first World Series homerun by a Jay. Amazingly, every World Series homerun he ever hit were off left handed pitchers
39) Greg Olson, the Braves regular catcher in the season before and injury put him on the shelf, hit only 3 homeruns in 1992 (95 games). Damon Berryhill, who took over for him behind the dish, hit 10 (101 games)
38) David Cone was the first AL pitcher to get two hits in one World Series game since Mickey Lolich in game 2 of the 1968 World Series
37) Ed Sprague had played in just 22 games that season and hit just 1 homerun prior to game 2
36) Sprague homered on the very first pitch he saw in the World Series
35) Game 1 and 2 were won by homeruns from backup catchers. Sprague would never play catcher again until a one inning appearance on July 5, 2001 with Seattle
34) Joe Carter was the first player to hit a homerun on Canadian soil in the World Series. He is also the last player to do so with his walk-off game winner in game 6 of '93.
33) Only one triple play has ever happened in a World Series, but the Jays almost turned one in game 3
32) Kelly Gruber's homerun in the 8th inning of game 3 broke a postseason drought of 23 hitless at bats, going back to game 2 of the ALCS against Oakland
31) Gruber also made the only error of the game, and tagged Deion Sanders on the heel if you watch the replay of the triple play that wasn't
30) Worst still, looking at the replay, Sanders made contact with Gruber's glove (basically tripping over it) as he dove into second
29) So the Jays actually got 5 outs on the play. Dave Justice out on the fly to White (1), Terry Pendleton out for passing Sanders on the bases (2). Pendleton out for getting back to first two late after running halfway to third on Justice's drive (3). Sanders out after Gruber tags him on the heel (4). Sanders out again for tripping over Gruner's glove (5)
28) The Braves used 4 pitchers in the bottom of the 9th in game 3
27) Candy Maldonado was 2 for 13 lifetime againt Jeff Reardon prior to facing him in the bottom of the 9th of game 3. In fact, I remember a game from June 13, 1992, when Reardon struck out Candy to end the game. Maldonado represented the game winning run in that game
26) Jimmy Key hadn't started a game in the postaseason (and was only 13-13 in the regular season) in 1992 when he took the hill in game 4 of the World Series. In fact, he pitched just once in the 6 games of the ALCS
25) Key, a lefty like Glavine (his mound opponent, in game 4), hadn't started a game since October 4th, the last game of the season. He pitched just once in the ALCS
24) Key was 8-13 on September 2nd, but then won his last five decisions on the season. His ERA in the 5 wins was 1.56
23) Lonnie Smith's grand slam in the fifth inning of game 5 was the 16th in World Series history. In twenty years since, only two more have been hit. Of the 18 grand slams hit in the World Series, 8 have been hit by Yankees.
22) Morris failed to become the first pitcher to win a World Series game with three different teams. Ironically, it was someone the Jays faced in next year's World Series, Curt Schilling who would do those honours
21) I learned in the box score of game 6 what you do when someone hits a flyball that is dropped that would have scored the runner anyway. You scored it a sac fly, and don't charge the batter with an AB despite reaching on an error.
20) Dave Winfield knocked in Roberto Alomar in the Blue Jays season opener, April 6, 1992, following a Carter flyball out. It was the run that put the Jays ahead for good. It was also the first run the Jays scored in 1992. In game 6 of the World Series in the top of the 11th, he knocked in Devon White and Roberto Alomar to put the Jays ahead for good.
19) Mike Timlin had just one regular season save (and none in the postseason) before game 6 of the 1992 World Series
18) Otis Nixon, who tried to bunted for the final out, later played for the Jays from 1996-97. It was Timlin fielded the ball and tossed to first for the final out. With Nixon and Timlin now teammates, Mike recorded a personal high 31 saves that season
17) Mike Timlin won a World Series with the Jays in 1992 and 1993. He would win two more with the Red Sox, as well. But that save in game 6 of '92 was his only postseason save. He was 0-3 lifetime in the postseason. No other player from the 1992 World Series would win more World Series than Timlin. Morris also won four World Series, but he was injured and not on the postseason roster in 1993. Jack was on the postseason roster of the 1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins and 1992 Jays
16) Joe Carter, playing first base, made the last out of the 1992 World Series. One year later, also in game 6, he hit the game-winning homerun for the Jays to win the 1993 World Series
15) Duane Ward won two games for the Jays in the 1992 World Series, Jimmy Key won the other two. Key was pitching in relief when he got the win in game 6. So 3 of the 4 World Series games the Jays won in 1992 were won by relief pitchers. Ironically, it would be the same deal next year, with Ward winning game 6
14) The losing pitcher in game 6? Charlie Leibrandt, who was the winning pitcher in game 7 of the 1985 ALCS against the Jays. It was the Jays first trip to the postseason, and they had held a 3-1 edge over the Kansas City Royals. Ironically the winner of game 5 of the 1985 ALCS (Danny Jackson), would face (and lose to), the Jays in game 3 of the 1993 World Series
13) Pat Borders was the World Series MVP, having gotten at least one hit in all postseason games for the Jays in 1992. Amazingly, he got a hit in each of the last two games of the 1991 ALCS and the first two games of the 1993 ALCS (16 game postseason hitting streak). The only World Series game that he failed to get a hit was game 3 of the 1993 World Series. In his first ever at bat in the postseason in the 1989 ALCS vs Oakland, he singled as a pinch-hitter
12) Borders was 9-22 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs Scored, 3 2B, 2BB (1 IBB), 1K in the 1992 World Series
11) Borders also hit .318 (7-25) with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs Scored, 1BB, 1K in the 1992 ALCS
10) The Braves, though, stole 15 bases off Borders, and were only caught 3 times
9) Deion Sanders hit .533 (8-15) with 0 HR, 1 RBI, 4 Runs Scored, 2 2B, 2BB, 1K
8) No other Brave hit above .296 (Otis Nixon)
7) The Jays held the Braves 3,4 and 5 hitters to zero extra base in the first 4 games of the Series
6) The Braves had a better ERA in the Series than the Jays (2.65 to 2.78)
5)The Jays made 4 errors in the World Series that year. The Braves made only 2
4) The 1992 World Series was the last game in a Jays uniform for the following players:
Derek Bell
Kelly Gruber
Tom Henke
Jimmy Key (would go on to face the Braves again in the 1996 World Series)
Manuel Lee
Pat Tabler (retired after the Series and became a colour commentator for TSN)
Dave Winfield
3) Also gone after this season were:
Dave Stieb (didn't pitch in the World Series due to injury, but returned to the Jays in 1998 after retiring in 1993)
Dave Cone (returned to pitch the Jays in 1995, then joined the Yankees to pitch against the Braves in 1996 and 1999)
Candy Maldonado (returned to the Jays in 1995 as well, but was traded to Texas later than season where he finished his career)
David Wells (1992 Blue Jays were the first of six teams he went to the postseason with. Later returned to the Jays in 1999. Pitched against the Braves in the 1995 NLCS with Cincinnati)
2) The Braves had a few Blue Jay connections. In addition to Otis Nixon, who eventually found his way back to the Braves, skipper Bobby Cox first joined the Atlanta Braves in 1978. Bobby managed the Jays from 1982 - 1985. Also in 1982, Cito Gaston joined the Jays as a hitting instructor. Cox was succeeded by Jimmy Williams for 1986. After being fired in 1989, Williams joined the Braves as a third base coach in 1991. When Bobby Cox got ejected in game 3 of the World Series that year, Williams took over! Cito Gaston took over for Williams and managed the Jays from 1989 to 1997, then came back for three more seasons from 2008-2010
1) Deion Sanders signed with the Jays in 2001 but never played a game with the Blue Birds. He did, however, play 25 games for the Jays AAA team the Syracuse SkyChiefs. Amazingly, he wasn't the only two sports star on the team that year, as Mark Hendrickson pitched!
Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top Of The World: The Toronto Stars Tribute To The '92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.
Kostel, Mike and Rich Domich, directors. 1992 World Series. Performance by Lou Carlou, Major League Baseball Productions, 1992. World Series Film. DVD.
Retrosheet. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 13 Oct 2012.
50) The Atlanta Braves were making their second straight attempt to win their first World Series since moving to Altanta. Before that, they had won the World Series as the Milwaukee Braves as recently as 1957, and as the Boston Braves as recently as 1914. They had even won a Championship 100 years before 1992, when, as the Boston Beaneaters (1st place in the NL) beat the Cleveland Spiders (2nd in the NL) in a six game series 5 wins, 0 losses and 1 tie. They had also just reached the World Series in 1991 and lost the Minnesota Twins in 7 games, a World Series that many call the finest ever!
49) Meanwhile, the Jays had no such postseason luck, squadering a 3-1 lead in the 1985 ALCS, then losing in 5 games against Oakland in 1989 and again 5 games to Minnesota in 1991
48) Game 1 featured the first ever 20 (Jack Morris) game winner vs 20 game winner (Tom Glavine) since Tom Seaver and Mike Cuellar in game 4 of the 1969 World Series.
47) Glavine's ERA in the 1992 NLCS: 12.27 in 7.1 IP
46) Glavine had won only one game since beating the other Canadian team (Montreal Expos) on August 19
45) Morris, by taking the hill in game 1, joined Joe Bush, Paul Derringer, and Grant Jackson as one of only four pitchers (at that point) to pitch in a World Series with three different teams.
44) Combined lifetime wins by Morris and Glavine: 559
43) Combined lifetime postseason wins by Morris and Glavine: 21
42) Morris was trying to become the first pitcher to win a World Series game with three different teams
41) The first hit by a Blue Jay was Dave Winfield, which equalled hit total number of hits in the entire 1981 World Series. Winfield went 1-22 in '81
40) Joe Carter hit the first World Series homerun by a Jay. Amazingly, every World Series homerun he ever hit were off left handed pitchers
39) Greg Olson, the Braves regular catcher in the season before and injury put him on the shelf, hit only 3 homeruns in 1992 (95 games). Damon Berryhill, who took over for him behind the dish, hit 10 (101 games)
38) David Cone was the first AL pitcher to get two hits in one World Series game since Mickey Lolich in game 2 of the 1968 World Series
37) Ed Sprague had played in just 22 games that season and hit just 1 homerun prior to game 2
36) Sprague homered on the very first pitch he saw in the World Series
35) Game 1 and 2 were won by homeruns from backup catchers. Sprague would never play catcher again until a one inning appearance on July 5, 2001 with Seattle
34) Joe Carter was the first player to hit a homerun on Canadian soil in the World Series. He is also the last player to do so with his walk-off game winner in game 6 of '93.
33) Only one triple play has ever happened in a World Series, but the Jays almost turned one in game 3
32) Kelly Gruber's homerun in the 8th inning of game 3 broke a postseason drought of 23 hitless at bats, going back to game 2 of the ALCS against Oakland
29) So the Jays actually got 5 outs on the play. Dave Justice out on the fly to White (1), Terry Pendleton out for passing Sanders on the bases (2). Pendleton out for getting back to first two late after running halfway to third on Justice's drive (3). Sanders out after Gruber tags him on the heel (4). Sanders out again for tripping over Gruner's glove (5)
28) The Braves used 4 pitchers in the bottom of the 9th in game 3
27) Candy Maldonado was 2 for 13 lifetime againt Jeff Reardon prior to facing him in the bottom of the 9th of game 3. In fact, I remember a game from June 13, 1992, when Reardon struck out Candy to end the game. Maldonado represented the game winning run in that game
25) Key, a lefty like Glavine (his mound opponent, in game 4), hadn't started a game since October 4th, the last game of the season. He pitched just once in the ALCS
24) Key was 8-13 on September 2nd, but then won his last five decisions on the season. His ERA in the 5 wins was 1.56
23) Lonnie Smith's grand slam in the fifth inning of game 5 was the 16th in World Series history. In twenty years since, only two more have been hit. Of the 18 grand slams hit in the World Series, 8 have been hit by Yankees.
22) Morris failed to become the first pitcher to win a World Series game with three different teams. Ironically, it was someone the Jays faced in next year's World Series, Curt Schilling who would do those honours
21) I learned in the box score of game 6 what you do when someone hits a flyball that is dropped that would have scored the runner anyway. You scored it a sac fly, and don't charge the batter with an AB despite reaching on an error.
20) Dave Winfield knocked in Roberto Alomar in the Blue Jays season opener, April 6, 1992, following a Carter flyball out. It was the run that put the Jays ahead for good. It was also the first run the Jays scored in 1992. In game 6 of the World Series in the top of the 11th, he knocked in Devon White and Roberto Alomar to put the Jays ahead for good.
19) Mike Timlin had just one regular season save (and none in the postseason) before game 6 of the 1992 World Series
18) Otis Nixon, who tried to bunted for the final out, later played for the Jays from 1996-97. It was Timlin fielded the ball and tossed to first for the final out. With Nixon and Timlin now teammates, Mike recorded a personal high 31 saves that season
17) Mike Timlin won a World Series with the Jays in 1992 and 1993. He would win two more with the Red Sox, as well. But that save in game 6 of '92 was his only postseason save. He was 0-3 lifetime in the postseason. No other player from the 1992 World Series would win more World Series than Timlin. Morris also won four World Series, but he was injured and not on the postseason roster in 1993. Jack was on the postseason roster of the 1984 Tigers, 1991 Twins and 1992 Jays
16) Joe Carter, playing first base, made the last out of the 1992 World Series. One year later, also in game 6, he hit the game-winning homerun for the Jays to win the 1993 World Series
15) Duane Ward won two games for the Jays in the 1992 World Series, Jimmy Key won the other two. Key was pitching in relief when he got the win in game 6. So 3 of the 4 World Series games the Jays won in 1992 were won by relief pitchers. Ironically, it would be the same deal next year, with Ward winning game 6
14) The losing pitcher in game 6? Charlie Leibrandt, who was the winning pitcher in game 7 of the 1985 ALCS against the Jays. It was the Jays first trip to the postseason, and they had held a 3-1 edge over the Kansas City Royals. Ironically the winner of game 5 of the 1985 ALCS (Danny Jackson), would face (and lose to), the Jays in game 3 of the 1993 World Series
13) Pat Borders was the World Series MVP, having gotten at least one hit in all postseason games for the Jays in 1992. Amazingly, he got a hit in each of the last two games of the 1991 ALCS and the first two games of the 1993 ALCS (16 game postseason hitting streak). The only World Series game that he failed to get a hit was game 3 of the 1993 World Series. In his first ever at bat in the postseason in the 1989 ALCS vs Oakland, he singled as a pinch-hitter
12) Borders was 9-22 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs Scored, 3 2B, 2BB (1 IBB), 1K in the 1992 World Series
11) Borders also hit .318 (7-25) with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs Scored, 1BB, 1K in the 1992 ALCS
10) The Braves, though, stole 15 bases off Borders, and were only caught 3 times
9) Deion Sanders hit .533 (8-15) with 0 HR, 1 RBI, 4 Runs Scored, 2 2B, 2BB, 1K
8) No other Brave hit above .296 (Otis Nixon)
7) The Jays held the Braves 3,4 and 5 hitters to zero extra base in the first 4 games of the Series
6) The Braves had a better ERA in the Series than the Jays (2.65 to 2.78)
5)The Jays made 4 errors in the World Series that year. The Braves made only 2
4) The 1992 World Series was the last game in a Jays uniform for the following players:
Derek Bell
Kelly Gruber
Tom Henke
Jimmy Key (would go on to face the Braves again in the 1996 World Series)
Manuel Lee
Pat Tabler (retired after the Series and became a colour commentator for TSN)
Dave Winfield
3) Also gone after this season were:
Dave Stieb (didn't pitch in the World Series due to injury, but returned to the Jays in 1998 after retiring in 1993)
Dave Cone (returned to pitch the Jays in 1995, then joined the Yankees to pitch against the Braves in 1996 and 1999)
Candy Maldonado (returned to the Jays in 1995 as well, but was traded to Texas later than season where he finished his career)
David Wells (1992 Blue Jays were the first of six teams he went to the postseason with. Later returned to the Jays in 1999. Pitched against the Braves in the 1995 NLCS with Cincinnati)
2) The Braves had a few Blue Jay connections. In addition to Otis Nixon, who eventually found his way back to the Braves, skipper Bobby Cox first joined the Atlanta Braves in 1978. Bobby managed the Jays from 1982 - 1985. Also in 1982, Cito Gaston joined the Jays as a hitting instructor. Cox was succeeded by Jimmy Williams for 1986. After being fired in 1989, Williams joined the Braves as a third base coach in 1991. When Bobby Cox got ejected in game 3 of the World Series that year, Williams took over! Cito Gaston took over for Williams and managed the Jays from 1989 to 1997, then came back for three more seasons from 2008-2010
1) Deion Sanders signed with the Jays in 2001 but never played a game with the Blue Birds. He did, however, play 25 games for the Jays AAA team the Syracuse SkyChiefs. Amazingly, he wasn't the only two sports star on the team that year, as Mark Hendrickson pitched!
References
Gamester, George, and Gerald Hall. On Top Of The World: The Toronto Stars Tribute To The '92 Blue Jays. Doubleday Canada, 1992. Print.
Kostel, Mike and Rich Domich, directors. 1992 World Series. Performance by Lou Carlou, Major League Baseball Productions, 1992. World Series Film. DVD.
Retrosheet. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 13 Oct 2012.
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